Teach Each Other
by In Perfect Harmione
Summary: Harry has it all a loving girlfriend, a house, a job, and two best friends who will love him no matter what… Or so he thinks follow Harry as his life changes and becomes new. Rated M for future scenes and some language. Harry/Hermione
1. Prologue

Teach Each Other

Summary: Harry has it all a loving girlfriend, a house, a job, and two best friends who will love him no matter what… Or so he thinks follow Harry as his life changes and becomes new. Sorry about the intentionally vague summary but I don't want to give too much away and ruin the surprise for you readers. Also any major differences up to canon are mentioned in the prologue. I also must give a quick shout out to Ramos' story "The FitzPotter Scandal" for inspiring me to write this story. Thoughts/Dreams in italics. Sorry about updating before the next chapter is out, but I was writing at night to finish it and I didn't notice all of the awful spelling errors that I made so I had to fix them and it appears my spell check on my Microsoft office is broken.

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Prologue

_Harry was back at the Battle of Hogwarts. Spells fly everywhere as death eaters, order of the Phoenix members, and students all fall in the desperate struggle for a final peace. He races down the pathway were he sees Remus and Tonks die, holding each other in their arms as they try to kill as many death eaters as they can before they go. He sprints more and sees Voldemort alone and waiting for him. _

"_Good evening Potter" Voldemort smirks as he says his name with as much contempt as he can muster before continuing, "You are truly pathetic, I don't see how I've even let you keep up with me up to this point."_

"_Keep up with you? Ha, I beat you Voldie I know this is just a dream," Harry said with as much courage and confidence as he could muster._

"_AH but did you really little Harry?" Voldemort started out, "Because from where I sit it looks like that is irrelevant. My earthly death doesn't matter as my message lives in those that carry my banner. My ideas will live on far past my departure. But did you even kill me, I could be hiding in a Horcrux in some hidden land waiting for the right time to be to kill anyone and everyone who is close to you."_

"_NO!," Harry cried "YOU'RE DEAD! YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY BE ALIVE! I KILLED YOU!"_

"_But," Voldemort continued , not acknowledging what Harry had said as he approached Harry - who suddenly felt frozen in place and couldn't move - and began to circle him, "Even your supposed victory has come with a price has it not? I have killed nearly everyone you loved, Remus, Tonks, Sirius, and Your Parents," He continued as he leaned in to whisper, "And it was all __**your**__ fault. Avada Kadavra!"_

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," Harry screamed suddenly wide awake now. Sweat pouring down his body as he jolted awake. He turned over to look towards the clock and see the time, 3:30 A.M. He knew he should go back to bed and get some more rest before work in the morning, but after that nightmare he was wide awake. It was a recurring nightmare that he had, fighting Voldemort in various forms manifesting his hidden fears and beliefs. He blamed himself completely for those who died. He knew it was irrational and that those who died did so because they wanted to fight, but there was the part of him that would always blame himself for their suffering. They also really didn't know that he wasn't still out there. He had been with Hermione when she had cast the spell to check if there were any more Horcruxes but what if they were wrong, what if he was still out there somewhere. He kept all of these hidden emotions inside. He knew this wasn't healthy, bottling his emotions up like this, but he didn't want to further hurt his friends further by pushing his doubts and worries onto them.

With that thought in mind, Harry slowly rose and got out of his bed, placing on his tee-shirt and pajama pants to cover his frame as he rose. He was rising much earlier than he needed or wanted to. He didn't have to be at work until 9, but getting up early gave him the unique opportunity to think undisturbed.

He slowly dragged himself from his room out into his kitchen were he proceeded to look out the window to see his wonderful view of London. The flat was quite modest for his level of wealth, but that was how Harry liked it, plain and simple, to give him as quiet a life as possible. It had four rooms, the kitchen/ dining room where he had a wide array of kitchen utensils to make him and his visitors food –a skill the Dursley's most graciously taught him, the living room garnished simply with a couch and a couple chairs along with a television set in the corner of the room, the guest bedroom mostly used by Hermione, Ron, or Ginny whenever they came over, and, of course, his master bedroom which held a king sized bed and all of his personal items. To make the place homier he had adorned it with pictures of him and his friends in their various years in Hogwarts. The pictures were your typical moving magical kind, but had been charmed by Hermione to appear normal to muggles. The kitchen also had a magnificent view of London, and he often found himself staring out into the busy city with a sense of awe at how the muggles managed all the chaos of life. He bought the flat after living with the Weasleys the summer after graduation. It wasn't that they told him to leave, on the contrary they begged him to stay, but he needed space and the only way to get that at the burrow was to leave.

Thinking back to school, Harry started to reflect back on how he had done it, how he had beaten Voldemort. After he left school to find the horcruxes, he, Hermione, and Ron had done what needed to be done camping, running, and only getting caught once by bounty hunters. When Ron left he and Hermione did what needed to be done without him. They found the Horcruxes and destroyed the rest of them. The Horcrux hidden in Gringotts had been the hardest and involved persuading Gringotts to give them the artifact when pretending to steal it to fool Voldemort into leaving the bank alone. Ron had joined them the week before they went back to Hogwarts for the final battle. He claimed to have been "searching for them the whole time", but his gut and well kept personal hygiene suggest otherwise.

The final battle for Hogwarts was awful. Both sides had suffered many casualties and many of his friends had died fighting including Remus, Tonks, and a small chunk of the the DA. His fight with Voldemort had been long, but he had persevered and was eventually the victor. He was pretty beat up from the experience and had to spend a few weeks in Saint Mungo's for intensive treatment, but he was fine in the end.

Nothing, no one had prepared him for what came next. Thousands of fans and reporters flooded into his life with all sorts of questions and comments about what was next and how he had done it. Harry hated it. He hated that they wouldn't leave him alone, give him time to grieve, and he hated that magical society could be this fickle, this changing. He remembered when they were cursing his name, he remembered when they deemed him evil, and when they ran and waited for a mere teen to fight their war for them. He supposed that he should be more lenient, after all, these people had families to protect and think about, something he could never relate to.

After the funerals and the press and the fan girls came the part of the story when school would start up again. He had opted to attend his 7th year again with Hermione while Ron opted to take a job offered to him at the ministry as an auror. It was a low paying job but he got certain benefits for being on the right side of things at the end, including the ability to work at a job that he was under-qualified for. Professor McGonagall had declared that any student could redo their previous year due to the egregious quality of education the students had received and Harry and Hermione took full advantage of that. Their seventh year flew by with Harry doing lots of work to make up progress in runes and arithmancy in order to catch up to his current year and sit for N.E.W.T.S. Ginny had chosen to move up and be in the same year as them. Together, they had won the house cup, quiddich cup, and Harry had received N.E.W.T.S Outstanding or Exceeds Expectations in all the subjects he had taken, with Hermione's help of course.

His high scores and decorated career fighting Voldemort allowed him his choice of job in the ministry after graduation. Harry balanced several ideas in his head before deciding to go into the world of Magical Law Enforcement. He had things set out in his mind. He wanted to start as an auror for a few years before moving up the chains and becoming head auror. He had a lot of work to do but he thought he could make the most difference there. Hermione had also opted to go to the ministry but she chose the Department of Care for Underprivileged Creatures and Minorities. She hoped to build her way up to eventually become the minister of magic one day. Ginny had chosen to pursue a career in quiddich and has courted by a few teams before being put on the reserve squad of the Hollyhead Harpies. She loved her job almost as much as she loved him.

He and Ginny had gotten back together right after the Battle of Hogwarts. They were one of the most talked about couples in Hogwarts drawing comparisons to Lilly and James when they attended school there, especially with Ginny's striking resemblance to his mom. They continued their relationship to this day, and Harry felt himself getting more and more attached to her everyday. She was the one who kept dragging him to parties and get-togethers and all those things. At first he had thought it was cute that she wanted to show them as a couple off, but the more it happened the less Harry began to like it as he was forced to talk to people that he honestly wished never to associate with. But he did d it, he did it for Ginny who he thought was kind, considerate, and loving yet fiery in the hopes that, one day, when she had to endure something she didn't want to do for him, that she would do it without complaint. She was his muse and thought he loved her with all of his heart.

_Yes, life was good_ thought Harry as he began to get ready for the day _He had a beautiful girlfriend, a great job, and a set of friends that would do anything for him._ He finished getting ready and was quickly out the door, just in time to apparate to work. He left thinking about all of the many blessings that he had in his life… or so he thought.

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Author's note: Thanks for reading please ignore any usage/ spelling mistakes that I make, and if anyone wants to Beta the story they are more than welcome to. I want to say quickly that if I didn't mention a specific change in the prologue then it happened like it did in canon. This included things like who died in the final battle and the Horcruxes (including Harry). Thanks for reading all reviews, good or bad, about the story are much appreciated and will be answered.


	2. Chapter 1- A Big Surprise

Authors Note: Once again thanks for reading hope you enjoy.

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Chapter 1: A Big Surprise

Harry got home from work that night at around nine completely exhausted. It had been a long day at work and he wanted nothing more than to spend the night in hid warm bed and just sleep. He had already contacted Ginny and told her that they were going to have to cancel their plans tonight. She seemed very reluctant to cancel, but when he told her his reasons she at least accepted it, even if she made him promise to go take her to somewhere overly expensive to make up for it.

Free of all responsibilities, Harry decided to order in and, dialing up his favorite Chinese takeout place, placed an order for his favorite dish. When the food arrived he ate it in the living room while watching T.V.

At around 10, He felt himself beginning to tire. He took a nice hot shower to relax himself before changing into his pajama pants and shirt and going to bed. It was about 10:30 when he finally went to sleep, and he was excited to not have anything the next two days as it was Friday and this was his Saturday off. He was looking forward to, and dreaming about, lying in bed all day and maybe inviting Ginny over as he drifted slowly to sleep.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Harry startled awake as he heard someone knock on his front door. He quickly turned over to look at his alarm clock and, seeing as it was only 8 A.M. rolled over and went back to sleep hoping whatever fan or reporter was outside would take the hint and realize not to bother him on his day off, especially this early in the morning.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK "Hello is anyone there," A voice that sounded almost motherly shouted while knocking louder this time.

_Well _thought Harry as he heard the knocking once again _I will give this person, whoever it is, is quite persistent_. However that was evidently not enough to make him move as he simply turned back over and tried to go to sleep before he heard it again.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK "Hello, anyone home? I simply want to come inside and talk," the voice called out this time as she - Harry assumed she was a woman based on her voice - called out again.

_Fine _thought Harry as he got his wand and got out of bed intent on giving this person a piece of his mind _This person is clearly not going to let me enjoy this day until I go and answer the door._

Harry got to the door after slowly dragging himself through his bedroom and living room as he slowly undid the lock and opened the door. What he saw clearly shocked him as instead of the normal fan girl staring at him with wide eyes he saw a women is her mid 50's wearing a women's dress suit and carrying what looked to be a young baby of no more than a few weeks old and a small amount of baby supplies with her hands poised to knock on the door again.

"May I come in," the woman asked Harry as he was staring at her with a shocked look on his face.

"Sure," Harry responded leading her to the living room and seating her in one of the chairs.

"I'm terribly sorry to barge in like that but she doesn't do well in the heat," the lady said as she motioned to the baby in her carrier, "I assume you are Mr. Potter correct."

"I am," Harry replied quite nervously as people that dress this professionally generally did not visit his house in the early morning to chat, "Am I in some kind of trouble Mrs.…" Harry tried to finish not remembering if she had told him her name.

"Mrs. Frigg" the woman said quickly, "sorry I must have forgotten to introduce myself. I am Arianna Frigg and I'm from the ministries Department of Child Services, and no before you ask you are not in any trouble."

At this Harry let go of the breath he didn't know himself to be holding and resumed his normal posture. He looks up and sees the woman smile at this before continuing, "You aren't in any trouble Mr. Potter but that doesn't mean that I am here without a purpose. Mr. Potter what do you know about the Department of Child Services," she finished with a smile.

"Well, admittedly not much," Harry began trying to search his mind for any information he had heard on the mystery department, "I heard briefly that your funding had to be increased after the war because of the many orphans so I can only assume your work has something to do with children," Harry finished.

"Why yes Mr. Potter that is absolutely correct and our funding had to increase to accommodate all the newly orphaned kids. Our main job is to protect children who are either orphaned or abandoned by their parents, and we also check to make sure that young children are not abused in their homes," Mrs. Frigg said.

_Ha _Harry thought internally with a smile _fat lot of good that did him while he was with the Dursley's. Although, I suppose that is a hasty assumption to make considering I wasn't on the radar as being a magical child, and therefore not their responsibility._ "Well, what I can do for you Mrs. Frigg," Harry said with a little confusion, "I'm sorry to inform you that I am not a father and to my best knowledge not abusing children in any way," Harry finished with a small smile.

"Well Mr. Potter," Mrs. Frigg began, "There is where I can say that you are definitely wrong. You are most definitely a child and your daughter is actually right here in this room with us," she finished motioning to the baby in the carrier who, as if on cue, began to looked Harry straight in the eyes and all he saw were green, the same green eyes his mother had given to him.

It was at this point that the world began to spin for Harry. He got extremely dizzy and well out of his chair, his faced drained of most color as he began to black out in shock. The last thing he remembered before passing out was looking at the baby who had begun to laugh playfully at his antics and thinking to himself _Oh Shit._

Harry slowly began to regain consciousness he found himself looking at a very amused Mrs. Frigg.

"Would you like some tea?" She asked sweetly as Harry groaned and rubbed the back of his head, "You were knocked out for a while and tea usually helps me wake up so I helped myself. I hope you don't mind."

"Sure," Harry replied although so many different questions were going through his mind right now, "is it true what you said about me being a father?" Harry asked his voice starting to trail off at the end.

"Ahh sparing no time for pleasantries I suppose," she said as she began pouring the tea, "In short Mr. Potter yes, you are a father."

"But…" Harry began stammering to find words, "How? I have only had one real girlfriend and we haven't even had sex yet."

"Well Mr. Potter that is a long story," began Mrs. Frigg, "are you interested in hearing it?"

_Well fucking yeah I wasn't to hear it, who in the right mind wouldn't want to after hearing that they are a father_ Harry quickly thought while adding aloud "I would, I really would like to hear this."

"Well then you may want this to drink while I tell it," Mrs. Frigg says as she hands him the herbal tea "It will help calm you," she continued.

Harry now sat up, listening intently to her speak.

"Mr. Potter this all started when you were visiting Saint Mungo's for medical treatment," she began, "How much do you remember of your trip there?"

"Admittedly not much," he responded trying to think back, "I was pretty knocked out from the final battle."

"Well do you remember a Doctor Macha coming to visit you there?" She continued

"Well…" Harry trailed off in thought, "I think I remember someone by that name coming to visit me… Yeah she asked for a sample of my semen to do highly unproven experiments on."

"Very good Mr. Potter that is a great start," she said before continuing, "The highly unproven experiments that she wished to run were based on using a donors sperm to fertilize a the egg cell of a couple who couldn't have kids naturally because of the father or to a woman who wanted to have a child without a father. This procedure has been available in the muggle world for many years, but the magical world remained ignorant both by choice and by barrier. See, magical sperm is slightly different than non-magical sperm and while this causes no problems in natural pregnancies, for whatever reason although my personal belief is in the spirit of magic itself, magical sperm would not work for artificial inseminations. But then Dr. Macha came around. She brought with her a newly highly experimental technique that she was sure would work, she just need some stronger magical sperm to test it on. That is where you come in Mr. Potter; you were in the hospital at the right time so that she noticed you as well as your magic. She then had you sign a waiver allowing her to perform her needed tests. You consented, and the majority of your sperm went to finalize the process but there was some left over. She couldn't resist the opportunity so she used your sperm in a procedure with a young couple who were on her waiting list. The process worked, and the result is what you see her in front of you. In signing the waiver, you also waived any possible responsibility should a child be born of the procedure…"

"Wait, if I waived my rights to the child then why are you here?" accused Harry.

"I was getting there Mr. Potter please calm down I was getting there please calm down," she started and upon seeing Harry cool down a bit continued, "Your daughter was born just this week, in the Saint Mungo's obstetrics unit and was a completely healthy child. However, her parents, shortly after taking her taking her home and before deciding on a name for her, were killed by death eaters in a brutal attack over wartime politics. Their daughter managed to escape slaughter because she was asleep in the bedroom upstairs when the death eaters killed her parents."

"What were her parent's names," Harry briefly interrupted, "Do I know them?"

"You might," Mrs. Frigg began, "The mother was in your year at Hogwarts on Daphne Greengrass while her father was a year older, Dimitri Vang." Harry remembered them both from school. Daphne was one of the most beautiful girls in the school (definitely the hottest in Slytherin) with light, almost platinum, blond hair and beautiful blue eyes along with a stunning body while Vang was quiet and reserved especially for a Hufflepuff. He never remembered having any problems with them while at school.

"Mr. Potter what I have to ask you next is a serious question and is not to be taken lightly," seeing him nod in recognition she continued, "Mr. Potter, I want you to adopt this child."

"WHAT," Harry cried aloud in surprise. Surly she was kidding after all he had absolutely no experience with a family of raising children. "Doesn't she have any relatives that want her?"

"Unfortunately not, her father's side wants nothing to do with her because she is not their son's daughter and the mother's side wants nothing to do with the child because she is a girl and cannot carry on the Greengrass name," Mrs. Frigg answered.

"But surely there is someone better than me," said Harry quickly, "I mean look at me I have no experience with children and I wouldn't know what to do with one, especially while working."

"Mr. Potter you are all that she has left. If you don't want her than I have no choice but to put her in magical adoption or an orphanage." Mrs. Frigg said sorrowfully.

"There is no way I could possibly raise a child," Harry said and when Mrs. Frigg looked like she was about to contest he quickly said, "Seriously I can't take her, I'm sorry but I can't care for her."

At his words Mrs. Frigg looked defeated and, rising almost as if rejected by the one she loved most, picks up the carrier with his daughter in it and goes towards the door.

Just as she begins to walk away Harry begins having flashbacks.

_(Start flashback-Warning child abuse/violence)_

_Suddenly Harry was back at the Dursley's. He was around 5 years old. He remembered it well, this was the time that the Dusley's had made him start to do the vast majority of the housework._

"_GET OUT HERE BOY," Vernon yelled from across the house._

_It was then that Harry noticed his surroundings. He was back in his cupboard under the stairs. The heavy musky scent and dimly lit space sent all sorts of emotions through Harry, the greatest of which was fear. He feared the damp, dark place, he feared the occasional rodent or spider that let him know exactly how bad his environment really is, and most of all he feared the isolation, the feeling that no matter what he did he was alone and no one was coming to save him._

"_I SAID GET OUT HERE YOU FREAK" Vernon says as he ripped the door open to the cupboard, "GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF THERE AND MAKE US BREAKFAST." He walked over to Harry and hits him across the face, knocking him to the ground to emphasize his point. _

_Harry quickly rose, ignoring the stabbing pain shooting through his face where he was hit, and went to the kitchen to start making breakfast. He begins to lay out all the ingredients for their breakfast: eggs, bacon, potatoes, and toast. He begins to simultaneously cook the food, barely being able to reach the stove because of his short height and malnourished body in stark contrast to the corpulent body of his cousin._

_As he is preparing the food, he is trying his best to remain on top of everything and cook a good meal, but he slips up and accidently burn the toast. Hoping his uncle wouldn't notice, he quickly tried to cover it up with the other food and presented it to his "family" before returning to the kitchen to see what he could salvage to eat. It was only a few short minutes before he heard his whale of a cousin's voice say "Dad, why has the freak burned my toast," and realized that his life was over._

_He turned and noticed Vernon quickly shuffle into the room. "YOU FREAK, HOW COULD YOU BE SO UNGRATEFUL YOU SWINE," he heard his uncle say._

_Harry began to shrink back into the corner of the room out of fear, his uncle's large demeanor towering over the small child as he tried desperately to escape. "I…I didn't mean to sir, I… I just forgot about the toast everything else was…"He was cut off by his uncle's mammoth fist connecting with his jaw._

_Harry fell to the ground and began to huddle into a ball out of fear and to protect himself but this only seemed to encourage his oppressor. "YOU UNGRATEFUL FREAK," a swift kick to the rib, "WE TOOK YOUR SORRY ASS IN," another punch towards his torso, "WE FED YOU," a backhanded slap to the head, "AND CLOTHED YOU," another kick which deflected off his arm, "AND YOU CAN'T EVEN MAKE BREAKFAST CORRECTLY," a finishing kick to the lower back was applied. _

_Seeing that his message had been received, judging by Harry's limp state on the ground, he picked the small child up, carried him to the cupboard, and threw him into violently locking the door and before saying "Don't even think of coming out of here for another day unless we tell you to." _

_Harry just laid there broken. He had several bruises and a few minor breaks that would heal in time but the emotional wounds ran much further deep. He lay there feeling the total emotional pain and loneliness of someone being abandoned and he felt their fists and their words over and over again in his mind. Freak, mutant, outsider, different were all branded into his mind and he would never forget them as he lay curled up crying in the corner of his "room" afraid and completely alone._

* * *

_The scene skips, and Harry is now about 7 and he and Dudley have just gotten home from school. Well… Dudley has chased Harry home from school and Harry has taken to hiding in his cupboard to avoid being bullied or beaten by the young boy._

_Harry didn't have any friends in the first years of primary school. Leaving for the first day, the Dursley's had to inform Harry of his name because he had never heard it before and this set the tone for his educational career there. Dudley and his gang of friends bullied Harry and anyone who came near him, preventing him from having any friends and keeping him in a lonely, forgotten state. So he responded by immersing himself in his studies and hoped his marks would show it._

_Around forty minutes later, Harry heard a car pull into their driveway and the front door open which could only mean that his aunt and uncle were home from parent-teacher conferences. Intrigued Harry peeped out of his cupboard to see what would happen. _

_He saw Vernon in a visibly upset state, his face huffing and going into a deep shade of purple as he was attempting to smoke a cigar. This was a clear warning sign that something was wrong and more than likely he would get blamed for it, but before he could sink into his cupboard Vernon came charging at him with a vengeance._

"_WHAT IS THIS YOU UNGRATEFUL PIECE OF SHIT," Vernon shouted throwing Harry's marks at him. He quickly had time to scan the marks while his uncle picked him up. He did not understand why his uncle was so upset. He had performed admirably and received very good marks in all of his classes. He had passed all of his classes with high scores and felt his pride swell slightly as it was a big accomplishment for him and all of his hard work. _

"_YOU UNGRATEFUL PIECE OF SHIT," Vernon yelled getting more purple, "DO YOU REALIZE HOW EMBARRASED WE WERE THAT YOU OUTPERFORMED DUDLEY, DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH SHAME WE FELT AS OUR FREAKISH LITTLE NEPHEW DID BETTER THAN OUR PERFECT BOY! WELL YOU ARE ABOUT TO FIND OUT!"_

_Vernon threw Harry down and slowly began to take off his belt. Harry knew better than to run as it only made things worse so he only turned and tried to cover himself before the blows came thundering down. His uncle began to brutally whip him with the metal buckle of his belt as Harry fell, deeply aware of the immense pain that was shooting through his body as the cold metal pieced his pack and ripped his clothing exposing the flesh of his back to the cruel torture. Vernon continued, even when Harry fell down and hid in the corner, afraid of one more blow, even when the boy began to bleed profusely from his back, even when the boy began to cry for his end just to end the pain. _

_Suddenly the whipping stopped, but not his punishment as Vernon moved to pick the young child up. "Ohh you're not done yet boy I still have to make sure that you remember this little chat of our," He whispered into Harry's ear, "And if you tell anyone about this I will kill you, you little freak, do you hear me." He removed the shredded remnants of Harry's shirt from his broken body and tossed them to the side. He quickly removed his cigar from his mouth and pressed the burning hot end against Harry's delicate arm._

_Harry felt like he was burning. He felt the hot embers of the cigar burn the flesh of his upper arm, but he couldn't scream, because he knew this would only encourage his uncle more. So he took the pain and cried, watching and feeling as his uncle made half a dozen more burns to his skin._

_After his uncle was finished he threw Harry into his room and Harry knew this meant another few meals missed for him. He slowly retreated to the corner of his room where he proceeded to cry and let it all out into his pillow as not to alert his family who would come and beat him again. He was sore, and felt worthless, and tired as he longed for the pain to stop, for his living hell to be over._

_(End Flashback)_

Harry was at the verge of tears at the remembrance of his memories. It wasn't the physical pain that hurt the most, no scars and pain went away and could be well hidden away. The emotional pain was what plagued Harry the most, the feeling of utter despair, the feeling of no one wanting him, the feeling of no one wanting him, the feeling of having no one care. He was overwhelmed by this and suddenly became determined to never let the same thing happen to his daughter.

"WAIT!" Harry cried out as Mrs. Frigg had just reached the door and had begun to turn the knob and leave with his daughter in her carrier.

"You look troubled Mister Potter, is everything alright?" she asked with a look of concern seeing his current state of emotional distress.

"I can't abandon her, I can't leave her alone with no one," Harry said softly dangerously close to breaking the emotional floodgates and having tears flow down his face.

"Please speak up Mister Potter. I'm afraid I didn't quite hear what you said," Mrs. Frigg said with an extremely hopeful look on her face.

"I said that I can't leave her Mrs. Frigg. I would like to adopt my daughter," Harry finished with a little more confidence; he had to do this for his daughter, his new family.

"That's wonderful!" Mrs. Frigg exclaimed full of sudden joy, "I knew you would change your mind. You are going to just love her and give her the best home I just know it," she gushed obviously happy, "You can hold her while I get the paper work out."

Mrs. Frigg took the baby out of the carrier and handed her to Harry who took her as if she were the softest, most precious thing he had ever held. She was fast asleep, and Harry held her exploring her soft, innocent face and childish radiance that flowed from her and couldn't help but smile.

Mrs. Frigg took out a few papers for him to sign but stopped at one near the middle of the stack. "Mister Potter, the parents of the child died before they were able to name her, so what would you like your daughter's name to be and would you like to adopt her completely into your family because you have the option to only take her as a ward until she reaches majority…" Mrs. Frigg began but Harry cut her off.

"No, I will be fully adopting her into my family and her name… her name will be Lily Minerva Potter," Harry finished unsure at first, but finally deciding on that name in his head. He liked the name; it honored both his mother and his old teacher whom he had grown very fond of.

After they had successfully finished all of the paperwork, Mrs. Frigg began to pick up all of her things to leave. She left Harry with about a week's worth of baby supplies ranging from diapers to formula and had even left a few books on how to raise children along with instructions on when to feed her and a demonstration of how to change a diaper, which he quickly removed and put in his pensive for later use.

Mrs. Frigg moved to the door but Harry had one last question. "Mrs. Frigg, thank you for all the books and instruction, but I have simply no idea where to start and how to raise a child," he said, looking doubtful of himself and slightly scared.

"It's alright Mister Potter, I'm sure you will do just fine," Mrs. Frigg said as she made her way towards the door and said as she left, "I'm sure you'll be able to teach each other."

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Author's note: So that's the end of the first real chapter I hope you all enjoyed reading it and weren't too sickened by the child abuse scenes. I wanted to post this story a few nights ago, but one of my very close friends had some very personal issues and was dangerously close to seriously harming himself so I had to go be with him. On a far happier not, I hope to be able to update a little more frequently now. I hoped you enjoyed the little surprise… Up next how Harry's close friends react, and as always reviews are much appreciated and will be answered

Signing off,

In Perfect Harmione.


	3. Chapter 2-Introductions

Author's note: I'm soooooo sorry for this update being late, but after I published the last chapter my life went into a storm quickly. My parents finally let me take a trip over spring break to go see a few colleges out on the eastern coast (United States) which was really cool, but when I got back I got swept up in studying for all 6 of my AP exams and that along with the rest of my time which meant I wasn't getting any free time to write. I know this is a lame excuse and I really hope you guys can forgive me for this being so late, but here it is so enjoy reading.

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Chapter 2: Introductions

The door closed with a soft click as Mrs. Frigg exited. This left Harry alone with his new daughter, who he was softly cradling while she slept silently.

_Well, what should I do now _Harry thought as he slowly stood up, only to find her woken up by his movement _Shit _was his last thought before Lily started to bawl like someone had taken away her favorite toy.

Harry made his way over to where the books were neatly stacked in a pile on the side of one of his tables. The books were relatively small and would probably be more accurately described as pamphlets, save one green book entitled "How to Raise a Magical Kid, For Beginners" which was about 300 pages. The pamphlets were on many topics, including some of the things Mrs. Frigg had taught him, such as how to change a diaper and the basics of nutrition.

Harry slowly picked up the stack, about 400 pages in all, and slowly made his way back to his chair with a now slightly less agitated Lily. He sat down and immediately began to attempt to soothe the baby, and after an uphill struggle of about 30 minutes, she finally faded back into sleep.

Harry cast a silent tempus charm to determine the time, 11 A.M, and silently praised the almighty powers watching over him that he had somehow managed to learn silent casting during his struggle to defeat Voldemort. He began to flip through the pamphlets, reading through all of them rather quickly before starting on the book.

He was at about page 113 when Lily woke up and demanded to be fed. She began crying without cease, which forced Harry to scramble for his pamphlets. He was searching fervently for the pamphlet of basic nutrition in the hopes of finding something for her to eat. Finding the pamphlet in question, he put Lily into her stroller and quickly brought her to the kitchen to prepare soft baby food. He diced the carrots before mashing them and adding them to a few other fresh vegetables he had sitting around before finally coming up with the final product, a brownish paste that looking absolutely revolting to him, but seemed to excite Lily to no end. He went over to the drawers and removed a spoon before returning to Lily.

"Alright Lily, do you want to eat now?" Harry asked aloud as if the baby could comprehend and follow directions. He slowly scooped up some of the paste and began to try to put it into the child's mouth. Lily slowly opened her mouth and appeared to be eating the food before allowing some to dribble onto her clothes. They continued eating in this way for several minutes, Harry getting small bites of food and trying to feed them to Lily, who proceeded to make a rather large mess of the area in the process. Afterwards, the table, along with Harry, Lily, and her clothes all showed signs of needing to be cleaned, so Harry cleaned off the table and then proceeded to the bathroom to wash them both off. After a few minutes of getting splashed by Lily, who seemed to be having a blast, he began making progress on getting her clean, and after about 10 minutes he got his desired results, so he wrapped her in a towel and made his way to his room to change clothes.

A few minutes later, Harry was right back where he started, on his chair and reading, while Lily was fading back into sleep while resting on him. He looked down and realized what a beautiful child she truly was. Of course, he had noticed before, he had been able to look at her briefly while Mrs. Frigg was talking to him, but this was the first time that he truly had time to sit back and appreciate the small child. Harry couldn't believe that he had been able to create something like her, even indirectly without his approval. He couldn't believe he was looking at something, or rather someone, who was, quite literally, half of him. He had heard of people finding their soulmates, their other (most of the time better) halves, but she was quite literally half of his genetic information. It made him swell with a paternal pride as he watched her move around on him trying to find a nice spot to sleep. He supposed she really would really be beautiful when she grew up, her platinum blond hair that was already beginning to form on the top of her heard coupled with her bright green eyes would surly attract numerous boys during her time at Hogwarts and beyond. She also had a sort of radiance, a childish aura that he couldn't put his finger on.

He also noticed something else about Lily; she currently wasn't wearing any clothes. After he had made a mess with her eating and washed her off, he forgot to magically clean her clothes so that she could wear them again. With that in mind, Harry summoned her clothes and then cast a few spells to get them slightly cleaner. _Eventually I'm going to need to get her some more clothes_ Harry thought, but he decided against it at the moment and continued on with the book he was reading.

* * *

Harry looked up after finishing the final book Mrs. Frigg had given him and cast a quick tempus to determine the time, 2 P.M, before determining what to do next. The book and pamphlets gave him a lot of information, but he wanted more knowledge about the subject of children. He wanted to be able to give Lily the life he had never had, one where she was nurtured and free to grow and explore her many talents. To do that, he needed more books, preferably by authorities in the field of childcare, on how to take care of and raise a magical baby. Suddenly he was stuck with an idea.

"Dobby," Harry called out knowing the house elf would hear him.

No more than ten seconds later, Harry heard a small pop right next to him which signaled the arrival of the house elf, "What can I do for the great Harry Potter?" Dobby began before noticing Lily sitting in his lap, "and who is the young misses that you is holding?"

"Dobby please keep the noise level to a minimum, she is trying to sleep, and speaking of which this is Lily Minerva Potter and she is my new adopted daughter after today," Harry whispered, but Dobby quickly started his normal hysterics.

"Aww, Master Harry Potter sir will be a most excellent father, Dobby just knows it, Dobby is blessed to know such a great person as Harry Potter," Dobby cried out.

"Dobby please," Harry interrupted feeling Lily start to move against his side, "Look Dobby I have two things to ask. The first involves you Dobby, I know that you have been living at Hogwarts since the final battle, but I was wondering if you would like to come live with me and help me out here with the extra work I will undoubtedly have because of Lily. I can arrange a talk with Headmistress McGonagall and we can discuss…" was all he could say before Dobby burst into tears, all while trying to contain himself because Harry had told him to. This would have appeared quite funny if anyone was watching from the outside, but as no one was this moment was lost in time.

"Master Harry Potter does not need to talk to the headmistress to get Dobby to be his house elf. Hogwarts understands that bonding with one master gives the house elf more energy than if he would bond with the school so it allows the house elfs to bond as they please. All Master has to do is say that he would like to allow Dobby to serve the Great House of Potter and Dobby will take care of the rest," Dobby managed to say between sobs.

"Alright Dobby as long as you are sure you want this," Harry began, "I, Harry Potter, Lord of House Potter request the services of Dobby the house elf."

"YAY," Dobby shouted out before mumbling what sounded to be a chant in a different language before a shroud of light enveloped him and Dobby.

Filing this information away for a later conversation with Dobby and Hermione that had the potential to be both humorous and informative, he asked his second request, "Dobby as for my second request, could you go to Diagon Alley and talk to someone from Flourish and Blotts and ask them to get whatever books they recommend you buy for a new father about how to raise a magical child," Harry said as he slowly got up and went to his bedroom and got his money out his safe in his closet. He came back into the living room and gave the money to Dobby who promptly popped out presumably to Diagon Alley.

Harry decided that this was as good a time as any to make himself some food, so he got up and placed Lily in her carrier before heading to the kitchen to get out some ingredients. After a little consideration, he decided that he would have a light snack and then make himself and Lily a bigger dinner to compensate. With that in mind, he got out a few fruits and vegetables along with some bread for a sandwich.

Soon after he had finished eating and returned to his seat with Lily, Dobby popped back in with a stack of 5 medium sized books. "The manager said that you would have to come in to get more books as he needs to know what you are looking for specifically, these were the general ones he recommends," Dobby said handing Harry back his bag of money.

"Great job," Harry began before adding, "You can go back to Hogwarts and get anything that you have left there and bring them back to the house. When you get back, you can place it in the guest room, eventually we will have to move out of here and move to one of the Potter houses, but for now you will have to share a room with Lily."

After he heard that, Dobby apparated to Hogwarts, but he was only gone a few minutes before returning with a modest sack of keepsakes. He dropped them in the guest room before coming back.

"Dobby, you can come and go as you wish, I am going to read some of these books and I will make dinner tonight, but you are welcome to watch and help me. I only ask this because I assume you don't yet know how to make baby food and it is a rather complex process," Harry said.

"Thank you Master Harry Potter sir, I wish to go visit some of the elves at Hogwarts and tell them about my new status," Dobby said.

"Dobby, one more thing, I would like you just to call me Harry, after all we have been through personal names are more than acceptable," Harry said before Dobby apparated back to Hogwarts.

Harry then sat down into his chair with one of his new books, _The Basic Principles of Magical Newborns and Children, and How to Raise Them _by W. D Aditi, and began to read.

* * *

Harry was about 300 pages into the book, or about 6:00, when Lily began calling out for attention again. Sure, he had to stop before to change an occasional diaper or give her some milk, but Harry thought that this time was based more on a want of food then a need to go. With this in mind, he got up and made his way with Lily to the kitchen to begin to prepare their dinner. He decided to go with pasta as that was the dish he was in the mood for and he had no way of getting any input from Lily.

He went into his makeshift pantry and got out a can of spaghetti sauce and a box of noodles. He would typically make extra to eat during the week, but with Lily around he was unsure of that choice. In the end, he decided he would make more. He went back and began boiling water for the spaghetti while cutting up fresh vegetables to add to the sauce that was cooking. After he had put the noodles, he heard a knock at the door. _Who could it possibly be at this time of the evening on a Saturday? Shouldn't everyone be out doing things? _He thought before asking "Who's there."

"Harry, it's Hermione, and when we were on the run from death eaters, we danced to the song "O Children" to have fun one night." A voice that Harry now knew was Hermione's said back. They still used that way of identifying themselves in which they said something no one else knew even after Voldemort had fallen because there was still a threat posed by those still associated with the pureblood ideology who saw them as evil for killing their dark Lord. That personal bit of information was only known by he and Hermione, they hadn't even told Ron the song they had danced to for this exact purpose.

"Come in," Harry yelled while making his way to the door to greet her, "might I ask why you have chosen tonight to come over?"

"Yes Harry, Neither Ron or I have seen you since you went home from work on Friday and you haven't answered any of our letters so we asked Ginny, and when she said you were just tired I thought something else might be going on so I can to…" that was all Hermione was able to say as she entered the kitchen and saw Lily.

_Oh Shit _Harry thought _she was totally right about something else going on and I guess she just found out the what, but how do I tell her the why. _"Hermione I can explain…" He started, but before he could begin to explain Hermione was asking a thousand questions a minute as she normally does when she doesn't know something.

"Who is this? Why is there a baby in the room? How did you manage to get yourself a baby? Who is the mother? Are those books I see by your chair?" She launched off rapid fire.

"Hermione calm down and let me explain," Harry began, "But first, would you like to stay for dinner? I made extra spaghetti."

"Why thank you Harry, I would love to stay for dinner, but you had better start explaining before I blow up," she finished while giving Harry a look that told him that she was completely serious in that threat.

Hermione this is my daughter, Lily Minerva Potter, and the story all starts this morning when I was woken up…" Harry started before proceeding to tell her the whole story of his day sparing no detail including the flashbacks of what happened at the Dursley's. While Hermione knew that his life at the Dursley's was unpleasant to say the least, she was completely unaware of how gruesome his home life actually was. After he was finished telling the story, near the end of which Harry had taken the food off the stove while getting a loaf of bread out of the pantry and making garlic cheese bread to go with the pasta, they were both in tears and Hermione launched herself at Harry and embraced him.

They stood like that just holding each other and crying until they were disturbed by the hungry cries of Lily. "Would you like to eat something now," Harry began as they separated and he went to go get plates out of the cupboards.

"Harry, I'm so proud of how you handled that situation," Hermione began, "Taking in the child must be rough and I completely understand your reasoning and am so proud of you, in addition, I'm happy that you are taking this seriously and reading up on how to raise Lily as best as you can. And if you ever need anything feel free to ask my help," she finished with a smile

"Thanks Hermione, I knew you would understand. I was actually hoping that you could help me. I wanted to list you as the person who would be given custody of Lily if anything were to ever happen to me. I trust you, and I was hoping if you would fill that role. You could come and visit her anytime you would like to," Harry said nervously.

"Of course I will Harry," Hermione began stuttering and blushing because of his words of praise.

The rest of the meal was spent in relative silence with both of them eating the wonderful meal and conversing about random parts of their day. At some point Harry brought out a bottle of wine and, after feeding Lily the rest of her mashed spaghetti and vegetables, an effort which took both or their combined effort and was comical to anyone observing as they both tried to get her to open up and eat and both failed miserably, they moved their discussion to the living room onto the couch. While there they were discussing their random lives each forgetting about their lives.

They each missed this kind of intimacy they shared that had begun to be lost during the beginning of their careers. During the hunt after Ron had left, Harry and Hermione had grown even closer than ever, clinging to each other out of both fear and necessity. They continued this closeness even when Ron came back and especially when they shared a room without him during their last year in Hogwarts when they were head boy and head girl. They had lost some of this when they had gone into the real world, but a night like tonight was exactly what they needed to rekindle their closeness.

Eventually, Lilly woke up from her nap and they began playing with her. They all snuggled close on the couch, the three of them, playing and just enjoying themselves and it all seemed so serene. Harry let his guard down this is what was fun to him, not going to parties with Ginny, meeting thousands of important people not being paraded around like a circus animal, but laying on a couch drinking wine with his best friend and his daughter curled up next to him all.

"HARRY YOU BETTER HAVE A FUCKING GOOD REASON FOR STANDING ME UP TONIGHT HARRY POTTER," Ginny said storming in the door. Harry knew she had a key, but she normally didn't just barge in.

"Ginny I'm sorry, I completely forgot I said I was going to go out with you tonight," Harry said hoping desperately that Ginny didn't overreact to the situation in front of her.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? WHO IS THAT KID? WHY ARE YOU ALL LAYING ON THE COUCH?" Ginny began clearly enraged. At this point in the screaming Lily began to get upset and started to cry.

"Ginny, it's not what it looks like let me explain," Harry tossed desperately at her while getting up.

"DAMN STRAIGHT, IT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT FUCKING LOOKS LIKE YOU AND THAT WHORE OVER THERE HAD A FUCKING BASTARD SOMEHOW. I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE A SLUTTY BITCH HERMIONE, WAIT UNTIL MY BROTHER HEARS AND YOUR ASS IN ON THE CURB, HUH BITCH NOT MUCH TO SAY NOW HUH," Ginny screamed.

"Ginny calm the fuck down you are scaring the baby," Harry replied his anger obviously mounting.

"ME? SHUT UP? IN YOUR FUCKING DREAMS THIS BITCH WHORE IS NOT STEALING MY MAN," Ginny yelled back, "THAT BITCH I ALWAYS KNEW THAT WHORE COULDN'T BE TRUSTED."

"STOP CALLING HER A WHORE, SHE DID NOTHING TO DESERVE THIS," Harry was now pissed to say the least.

"OF COURSE SHE IS A WHORE! SHE TOOK YOU FROM ME, AND NOW YOU HAVE A CHILD. SHE IS SUCH A GIANT BITCH, HOW DO YOU FEEL WHORE," Ginny yelled obviously very upset.

"NO, SHE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING TO DESERVE THIS. SHE HAS ALWAYS STOOD BY MY SIDE," Harry yelled in return.

"WHY DO YOU TAKE HER SIDE, THE FUCKING SLUT? I'M YOUR GIRLFRIEND HARRY," Ginny shouted.

"BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING TO TAKE HER SIDE ON, AND YOU ARE BEING RUDE AND ARE CALLING MY BEST FRIEND A WHORE," Harry shouted right back.

"YEAH THAT'S RIGHT SHE IS A WHORE AT LEAST YOU KNOW IT," Ginny started, "AND WHILE YOU ARE AT IT GET RID OF THAT BASTARD CHILD."

"Get out of my house now," Harry began so angry his magic was beginning to flare causing objects in the room to levitate slightly, the insult towards Lily was too much for him to take, "No one insults my family you need to leave now."

"FUCK YOU TOO HARRY. I ONLY EVER REALLY CARED ABOUT YOU FOR YOUR MONEY AND FAME," Ginny began before walking back out the door while flicking them off, leaving a crying Lily with a very stunned Hermione and a very pissed off Harry Potter.

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Author's note: so once again I want to apologize for not writing until now life got hectic and I'm sorry I can't control that. I'm sorry if this chapter seemed rushed in any way that wasn't meant to happen, but I tried writing this chapter in the midst of all the chaos and that didn't work very well. On the bright side, summer is coming up soon so hopefully that means more writing. As always, feel free to review, they are much appreciated and I will do my best to answer.


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